need some advice...

[milmokes]

I have a 29 gallon saltwater tank, which includes live rock (not sure how much), a hitchhiker crab, which I believe he is a stone crab, which is filtered by a skilter 400 (skimmer doesn't work), lighting is one actinic and florescent bulb(not sure how many watts).
Nitrate is high. 1. Do I need a skimmer? 2. Or should I get a better filter?
3. How long do lights last? 4. I want to turn this into a reef tank and was wondering what type of lighting I should use or is this good enough. The bulbs are more than 2 years. Finally, all my fish died due to a high ammonia spike caused by 2 year old daughter dumping spongebob squarepants cookies into the tank. I got the ammonia and nitrite at 0, but nitrate still high. 5. What fish is a good starter for the reef tank? Any help is appreciated.

 

[theatrus]

You probably have 24" bulbs at 20W a piece over the tank... (a 29 is one of those odd tank sizes which doesn't have a corresponding bulb length). 2 years is much to old for anything except fish. Normal fluorescents last 6 months, while CF and VHO can last to 12 months on a good ballast. Look into a 2-4x65 CF fixture, they may even make one for a 30" tank.

Without knowing a rough figure of LR its hard to say if it is enough filtration. How much does it "fill the tank"?

5ppm nitrates isn't bad at all

A skimmer is always a good thing.

Occel and Percula clowns are rather hardy.

 

[steve-s]

Look into a 2-4x65 CF fixture, they may even make one for a 30" tank.

Agreed you'd actually be able to keep a wide variety of corals with PC lights but I think you meant 2x65w PC, 4x65w would be too long for the tank(typically 48"). Current USA makes a stock 30" fixture. Check the sponsor forums, many offer AA members discounts.

Cheers
Steve

 

[theatrus]

Yeah, forgot the length of the bulbs comes into play

 

[milmokes]

I would say there is probably about 30-40 lbs of live rock. It takes up between a third and half the tank I would say.

 

[steve-s]

That's actually a good amount of rock for biofiltration. I'd check the fish compatibilty on the home page and make a "wish list" of the fish you'd like and then get feedback on it. Much easier that way and it opens up more possibilties.

Cheers
Steve